Middle East

Hezbollah-Linked Suspect Extradited to Panama in Long-Running Terror Investigation
Hezbollah-Linked Suspect Extradited to Panama in Long-Running Terror Investigation

The U.S. Embassy in Panama announced a major breakthrough in the decades-long investigation into the 1994 bombing of Alas Chiricanas Flight 901, stating that suspected Hezbollah-linked operative Ali Zaki Hage Jalil has been extradited to Panama to face trial. The announcement described the move as the result of coordinated efforts between the ...

UN Peacekeeper Dies Weeks After Injury in Southern Lebanon
UN Peacekeeper Dies Weeks After Injury in Southern Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Friday announced the death of an Indonesian peacekeeper who was critically injured last month following a projectile explosion at a UN position in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of peacekeepers killed in the war to six. Corporal Rico Pramudia, 31, succumbed to his injuries on 24 April ...

Oil Extends Gains, Stocks Sink as Peace talk Hopes Fade
Oil Extends Gains, Stocks Sink as Peace talk Hopes Fade

Oil prices extended gains Friday, and stocks struggled as investors worried about a lack of progress in ending the Middle East crisis, with Tehran keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and the US maintaining a blockade of Iranian ports. A week that started with hopes the two sides would eventually hold peace talks was set to end on a negative note, ...

U.S. Weighs New Military Plan in Strait of Hormuz
U.S. Weighs New Military Plan in Strait of Hormuz

Senior U.S. military officials are developing new operational plans targeting Iran’s strategic capabilities in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter who spoke to CNN. The proposed options focus on a more aggressive and geographically concentrated military approach, particularly emphasizing ...

U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward for Leader of Iraqi Armed Group
U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward for Leader of Iraqi Armed Group

The US State Department is offering up to $10 million for information on the leader of the Tehran-backed Iraqi armed group Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), which Washington designates as a terrorist organization. US officials said in a social media post Thursday they were seeking information on KSS leader Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, also known ...

White House Hosts Second Round of Direct Lebanon-Israel Talks
White House Hosts Second Round of Direct Lebanon-Israel Talks

On Thursday afternoon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio convened with Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter in the second round of talks in the first series of direct Lebanon-Israel dialogue since 1993. The talks were planned to take place at the State Department, but prior to the ...

Berri Navigates Lebanon’s Ceasefire Opening
AnalysisBerri Navigates Lebanon’s Ceasefire Opening

A fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire has opened a narrow political window for Lebanon, with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s stance on the talks evolving amid diplomatic contacts with Saudi Arabia. The latest came in a phone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud hours before a second round of talks with Israel on ...

Majd Harb: 1955 Israel Boycott Law Should Be Repealed Immediately
ExclusiveMajd Harb: 1955 Israel Boycott Law Should Be Repealed Immediately

Attorney and Legal Activist Majd Harb told This is Beirut in an exclusive interview that the 1955 Israel Boycott Law should be abolished immediately, arguing it has been misused as a political tool. He said the law is hindering economic development while exposing individuals, including journalists and business professionals, to disproportionate ...

Trump Orders U.S. Navy to Destroy Vessels Laying Mines in Hormuz
Trump Orders U.S. Navy to Destroy Vessels Laying Mines in Hormuz

President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed the United States would destroy any vessel laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, as he ratchets up pressure on Iran to reopen the crucial sea passage. "I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be... that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait ...

Iran Executes Another 'Political Prisoner,' NGO Says
Iran Executes Another 'Political Prisoner,' NGO Says

Iran on Thursday hanged a man convicted of membership in a banned opposition group, the judiciary said, with an NGO describing him as the latest "political prisoner" to be executed in an unprecedented trend. Sultan Ali Shirzadi Fakhr was hanged on charges of membership of the People's Mujahedin (MEK) and "collaboration with the Israeli regime's ...